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Lady Kate is a 1993 revision of Ward's earlier opera, The Lady from Colorado. Lady Kate is set in Elkhorn, Colorado, in the late nineteenth-century. It is the story of Katie Lawder, an Irish immigrant who moved to Colorado to be her own boss, and Cecil Moon, an expatriate English gentleman. Not long after they court and marry, Cecil's grandfather dies and the couple, now Lord and Lady Moon, return to England. Once there, Katie finds she cannot fit in with the British aristocracy and persuades her husband to return to Elkhorn to take up ranching. Upon returning they find former outlaw and gun-slinger, Jack Spaniard, running for election as Colorado's first senator. Despite plans to lead a quiet life, Cecil Moon is convinced by his friends to be the opposing candidate. With the special help of his gambling English butler, Rutledge Blunt, Cecil wins the election. Lady Kate is a rousing opera with elements of Broadway musical theater and excellent opportunities for colorful staging and direction.
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